Help with strategy for merit only? Feel like we are starting over due to EFC...

I have heard of it! Thank you.

Another vote for Eastern CT.

Seconding Eastern CT, NCF, Beloit, Wooster, GOucher

Eckerd? Wheaton MA?

Apply test-optional to Earlham?

Parent of HS '16, whose scores were mismatched with rest of portfolio, needed substantial merit, only looking at LACs – so this is my territory! My kid’s initial thoughts – before finances – included Vassar, Bates and the like, so we had to identify similar-personality places that would give generous merit.

Midwest LACs are a true gem and many are test optional for both Admissions AND merit. Also, many of them have sticker price which is as much as $10k a year less than east coast and some midwest schools. Knox, Earlham, Beloit, Lawrence, Kalamazoo had tuition last year in the range of $42-46k, with room and board typically closer to $8000 a year than the $12k plus at some schools. So, a kid could get a 1/2 tuition merit award, and bring tuition down to $22k range, with room and board bringing costs to $30k range. If you take your $20k available, plus student summer job of maybe $2000, plus student loan of $5500, you get close to $30k, though still a bit short.

Test optional for admissions and merit schools we spent a lot of time researching and visiting:

Lawrence University, about 2- 2 1/2 hours from Chicago O’Hare

Beloit, less than an hour from O’Hare, literally, just over the WI state line

Knox College in Illinois, still one of my favorites – a lot of great stuff happening there. Amtrak from Chicago, but about a 3 hour trip. Additional music and art scholarships which are stacked on top of other merit awards.

Earlham in Indiana – strong sciences, many new facilities, highly diverse student body. Less than an hour, I think, from Indy airport.

Kalamazoo College – wonderfully diverse student body, everything from blue hair to Vineyard Vines, with open curriculum, only foreign language and writing requirements, with everyone doing a capstone research project.

Denison University: 30 minutes from Columbus, diverse, new program in narrative non-fiction writing, to prepare students for communicating in their work life, also has strong sciences.

Some of the women’s lacrosse programs at these schools may be less competitive and therefore still looking – take a look at their rosters to see how the talent compares to your daughter, and contact the coaches.

College of Wooster is not test optional, but a 26 should be fine for both admissions and merit there. Again, every student does a research capstone. Not easily accessible from Ohio airports, more than an hour from Cleveland and Columbus. Wooster does have an online merit calculator which then gets assessed by an actual person and you receive a letter a few weeks later predicting likely merit. My kid’s merit was several thousand dollars higher than predicted.

Centre College in KY is also not test optional but a 26 should be ok for admissions and probably merit, if an applicant brings enough other qualities to the table.

St Lawrence, in up up upstate NY, is test optional but does require scores for merit awards. A lovely school, very competitive athletics.

Dickinson in PA (in between Philly and Pittsburgh) is test optional; it will give its lowest tier merit ($10k a year) to test optional applicants, requires test scores for higher levels of merit.

Lawrence, Beloit, Knox, Kalamazoo, Earlham, Wooster all have non-binding EA, with the merit awards announced with admission decision, so a student can have several good option in hand between late Nov and late Dec. Dickinson has EA but doesn’t release decisions until Feb. Denison is ED only, no EA.

Hope this helps!

Ursinus college in PA, one of the Colleges That Change LIves (CTCL.org) schools may be worth a look. They have a new scholarship program, the Gateway Scholarship which pledges $30K per year for meeting certain minimum stats (28 ACT or 1260 Reading +Math SAT) and HS curriculum requirements. With a COA of $61K, that could you get you close to an affordable price tag, if you can stretch the finances a bit more.

https://www.ursinus.edu/offices/scholarships-and-financial-aid/grants-scholarships-loans/ursinus-gateway-scholarship/

Another CTCL which I know some other families have had positive experiences, and which might end up with an affordable price tag is McDaniel College in MD.

I have also had good feedback about York College in PA with Tuition, fees, Room and Board coming in at around $29K.

Rowan University in NJ also seems to be another popular choice in my area, with an OOS cost of approx. $33K, and your daughter might get a bit of merit to get the price tag down to meet your requirements.

One of my nieces attended Framingham State U in MA and did well there. It has a cost this year of about $27K for tuition+fees +R+B. Another niece attended Westfield State U, also in MA, with a cost of around $27K, depending on housing choice.

Just want to make a correction for anyone factoring in the effect of the AOTC (American Oportunity Tax Credit):

The maximum refund is $2500 not 4k (max 100% of the first 2k in qualified expenses, max 25% of the second 2k, I believe a max of 1k is refundable).

This family has an EFC of $60k. That suggests an income too high for AOTC.

Helps?! This is awesome!! I am really blown away, thank you. I will definitely explore these with DD. Given that we are in CT, we would have to travel sort of far to visit these Midwest campuses. But if they offer the experience she wants, I wouldn’t be opposed. Thanks again, these real world experiences help so much. we can speculate all day long, but it won’t get us far!

Just a quick update: we are working on a new matrix of schools meeting our new financial criteria. It’s a pretty solid list, thanks to all of you! Definitely optimistic. Best news is that Eastern is trying to recruit her for lacrosse, and she wants to visit soon. She’s also talking with Bard. Those two being Div III schools, she won’t get athletic scholarships. But her confidence is up!

@CTMamaEm Talk very specifically with Bard – their financial aid/merit policies can be confusing. It sounded to us that Bard gives merit only to students who qualify for financial aid – so merit seems require a showing of financial need. If your EFC is close to full pay, you will want to push hard to get a clear answer. Their website is not entirely clear (when we researched it last year) about how merit intersects with financial aid.

I don’t think Bard will be within budget, alas.
CTCL colleges are likely your best bet. Buy the latest edition of the book (2014?) to read up about each because they’re all very different in vibe and selectivity (Emory&Henry vs. Reed, Antioch vs. Hope…)
Look for a thread titled something like “Non CTCL colleges that could be”.

I have to agree on Bard $$. I’d love to consider it (EFC 57) and all that shows on their net price is a “scholarship” that meets our “need” to bring it down to the 57. It came off very quickly. We are trying to stay under 36 if at all possible and the lower the better.

If she wants to play lacrosse, look at the Div 2 schools. They will be different than the Div 3 schools, but they will offer scholarships. St. Anselm in NH, S. New Hampshire, Stonehill are all in the northeast. Many more if you are willing to go farther. ‘Quirky’ and athletes often do not go together. Schools like New College of Florida don’t have varsity athletic teams.

There are some schools adding lacrosse, and those schools are going to take a strong players (except D1, which recruit heavily two years before adding the program). Many have just announced new coaches and those programs probably still have athletic $$ and/or help with admissions:

NAIA
Brenau University - GA
Texas Wesleyan - TX
Keiser University - FL
Union College - KY
Concordia Ann Arbor - MI
Madonna University- MI

2017/18
DIII
Salem College - NC
Westminster College - Missouri
Heidelberg University- OH
Newberry College - MA
Lyndon State - VT
Earlham College- IN -2018
Anderson University -IN -2018
Juniata COllege - PA -2018
Chatham University- PA -2018

D2
Lee University - TN
Barton College - NC
Ohio Valley University- OH
Colorado Springs - CO
Monmouth College - IL
Concordia - MN
Southern Wesleyan - SC 2018
Embry Riddle -FL- 2018
Quincy - IL - 2018
Palm Beach Atlantic -FL 2018

D1
Butler - IN
University of Hartford - CT - 2018
ECU- NC- 2018
Arizona State- AZ - 2018
Wafford - SC -2018
Kent - OH 2019

Juniata out of the LAC/LAX list could be a nice fit, likely to come down o low 30’s though so may still be a bit high but I would look into it.

Colorado Springs is not terribly liberal or quirky but is gorgeous.

This is great advice. I did send the admissions office an note asking for clarification. Thank you!